60,000 Brits to download Firefox 3.0 today

Mozilla aims for 1.5m download world record

Nearly 60,000 people from the UK have pledged to download Firefox 3.0 today, as Mozilla hopes to achieve a Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours.

The third generation of the open-source browser is scheduled for release later today, and Mozilla has been spreading the word for the past few weeks. The organisation has been encouraging Firefox devotees to join like-minded souls at 'Firefox parties' to encourage widespread downloads, while Firefox Affiliate Buttons are available for website publishers to place on their sites.

Over 1.5m people had pledged to download Firefox 3.0 as of 10am this morning - enough to break the World Record for software downloads, according to Mozilla. However, as there's no existing record, the browser developer is in a win-win situation.

While the 60,000 Firefox 3.0 pledges from the UK is an impressive figure, other European nations lead the way in terms of devotion to the cause. Over 97,000 people in Poland have promised to download Firefox 3.0 today, followed by 84,000 in France and 64,000 in Germany. The US leads the way with 245,000 pledges, while Brazil (94,000) and Canada (40,000) are other notable Firefox strongholds.